What the flames can't hide
by Emerald Night 117
Summary: There is a legend among the residents of Beacon Academy, one of a boy in green, welding a sword of similar color. A boy who fought the creatures of the grim that invaded the city of Vale, and won. A boy who summoned fire directly to his fingertips. The tale of Christopher Elsword. What the flames can't hide. Full summery inside
1. prologue

_There is a legend among the residents of Beacon Academy, one of a boy in green, welding a sword of similar color. A boy who fought the creatures of the grim that invaded the city of Vale, and won. Four teachers at Beacon know this tale well. The youngest, a girl with a red cape, is the headmistress of Beacon. Another, one of white, is the headmistress's assistant. One is of black, the world history teacher, and the last is of yellow, who knows the most about the boy in the legend, teaches the students about the grim. Above her door, is a green great sword. No one knows why this sword is there, and no one has seen it moved. When asked, the teacher replies with a simple, 'a friend gave it to me.' These four girls were with the boy of legend, fought by his side, and were there when he became a legend. Can you guess their names? Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. The boy's name was Christopher Elsword, and we are going to relive the legend, experience the hardships, and learn how a simple boy with little control of the power inside him, became a hero. Come, gather round, and let us learn the story of Elsword._

"Waaaa Chaaa." A girl in a red cape says as imitates hand to hand combat.

"So I see." The man sitting across from her says. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"I want to be a Huntress." The girl says.

"You want to slay monsters?" The man asks.

"Yeah. I only have two more years left of training at Signal, then I'm going to apply for Beacon. You see, my sister is starting there this year, and she wants to be a Huntress. I want to be a Huntress because I want to help people." The girl says. "I mean, my parents taught us to help people, so I thought. Well might as well make a career out of it." She begins to ramble.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asks when the girl is done.

"You're Professor Ozpin, you're the headmaster of Beacon." The girl says.

"Hello." Ozpin says.

"Nice to meet you." The girl says.

"You want to come to my school?" Ozpin asks.

"More than anything." The girl says. Ozpin looks to the blonde woman next to him.

"Well okay." He says. The girl's eyes widen.

_The next day._

A blonde boy watches as airships dock and unload students at Beacon, a blonde female not much older than the boy, nudges the boy with her elbow.

"Hey Elsword." The blonde woman say.

"Yeah sis?" Elsword replies.

"I need to talk to Ozpin." The woman says.

"Sure, see you around Elsa." Elsword says, watching the retreating form of his sister. Before joining the new students. He ends up in a large room with a stage in the front.

"Ruby! I saved you a spot!" A blonde girl nearby says. A girl in a red cape makes her way towards the blonde. When she reaches the blonde, they begin to argue. A white haired girl joins soon after.

"... Like tall, blonde, and straggly over there." Elsowrd glances over to find the white haired female pointing at another blonde boy nearby. Elsword ignores the white and red haired females again as Professor Ozpin walks up onto the stage. He clears his throat to catch the attention of the students.

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills." Ozpin starts. "But as I look among you, all I see is wasted energy. You all lack a sense of direction, a need of purpose. You assume knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only take you so far… It is up to you to take the first step."

"Tonight you will gather in the barn. Tomorrow you initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Professor Goodwitch says. Elsword exits silently. He enters the large room Goodwitch called the barn. He sets down a sleeping bag in a secluded corner and changes into his night clothes. He sits down against the wall as he inspects his sword. He pulls out a sharpening stone from his bag and begins to sharpin his sword.

"Hey," Elsword looks up to see a blonde female in front of him. "I'm Yang. What's your name?"

"Elsword." Elsword replies.

"Well, Elsword, might I ask why are you here by yourself?" Yang asks.

"I tend to be alone. I just get things done faster that way." Eslword replies, continuing to sharpin his blade.

"Oh... What combat school did you go to?" Yang asks.

"I didn't go to a school. My older sister taught me, she's an instructor here." Elsword says. He finishes sharpening his sword. He presses his thumb against the edge of the blade until it draws blood. Satisfied, Elsword places his sword to the side and looks up to meet Yang's eyes. Yang finally gets a good look at his face. Blonde hair that covers his forehead, green eyes and thin lips pressed into an expressionless line.

'He's actually somewhat... Attractive' Yang thinks.

"You actually have a reason for talking to me? Or just saw someone by themself and decided to annoy them?" Esword asks. Yang is taken aback by the harshness of the question.

"I was actually interested in that sword." Yang says sheepishly. Elsword nods.

"Built it myself. I can use it one handed, despite how weak I may seem." Elsword says. "You can hold it if you want." Yang lifts the heavy sword, with a minor degree of difficultly. She inspects it, looking over the finely crafted blade. Ruby enters the room and Yang leaves to talk with her sister. Elsword stares at her retreating form before opening his bag and pulling out the disassembled parts of a DMR. He begins to rebuild the gun. After a few minutes his focus is broken by a shout.

"Oh not you again!" Two females shout in unison. Elsword looks up and to see Ruby and Yang arguing with a white haired girl. A black haired girl WAS reading a book until she blew out the remaining lights to end the shouting. Elsword snaps his fingers and a flame appears on the handle of his sword. He reassembles the DMR and goes to sleep, not noticing the lilac eyes watching him.


	2. Update!

**Hey eeveryone! Chapter 2 is finished! However, I need to wait a bit till I have access to a computer to post it. Please wait a bit longer!**


	3. Chapter 1

Elsword woke to the sound of an energetic young woman singing. He pulls himself out of his sleeping bag and prepares for the day. After breakfast, he looks over the cliff side where the initiation would take place.

"Surveying the landscape I see." A female voice teasingly says.

"You have a problem with that sis?" Elsword jokes back. Elsa chuckles.

"Just glad you're preparing, I hear the test is especially hard this year because of you." Elsa says.

"Oh great." Elsword mutters sarcastically.

"It's kinda a given, I'm the youngest teacher here and you're only two years younger than me." Elsa says. Elsword nods.

"I rebuilt that rifle last night, so staying in the trees could be useful." Elsword says.

"Try not to go overboard with the fire, you don't have complete control of it." Elsa says.

"I know." Elsword replies. An announcement sounds out over the campus. "Well, I got to go. See you after sis." Elsa nods, watching as Elsword leaves her there and heads off.

_'Don't you die on me Elsword. I promised mom I would protect you.' _ Elsa thinks.

...

"I believe many of you have heard about the assignment of teams. Well allow me to ease your minds, each of you will be given teammates. Today." Professor Goodwitch.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your stay here at this academy, so its in your best interest that you pair up with someone you can get along with." Ozpin says. "Therefore, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."

"See, I told you." An orange haired girl says to a black haired boy. Elsword spares a glance before returning his focus on Ozpin to the far right.

"At the end of the path you will find an abandoned temple, inside are several relics. You are to take one and return to the top of the cliff. There you will guard your item, as well as your standing, and be graded appropriately." Ozpin says. Elsword nods, a fire in his eyes. "Take your marks." Elsword picks up his sword, which was stabbed into the ground at his side, and places it on his back. An action that doesn't go unnoticed by Ozpin. Elsword hears the sound of gears turning, and then he's launched into the air. Spinning himself to that his feet are before him. Elsword brings his knees to his chest and kicks them out after a moment. A large ball of fire explodes at the soles of his shoes, stopping his forward motion. He falls to the ground. Landing on his feet, he breaks off into an inhumanly fast sprint.

_'As long as I don't look into somebody's eyes, I'll be good.'_ He thinks. Elsword is forcefully pulled out of his thoughts when he is struck by an Ursa. He flips and lands on his feet. Elsword draws his sword and surrounds it with flames, realizing what he's doing, Elsword clenches his free fist and the flames disappear.

"I can defeat you without the flames, its time for me to stop hiding behind them." Elsword says. Elsa, who is watching him on her tablet, smiles. Elsword charges forward and the Ursa reacts by running to meet him. Elsword jumps over the bear-like creature and stabs his sword into its' back. Flipping off the raging monsters' back, he draws his DMR and empties the clip, killing the creature. He looks down at his hands, closes them into a tight fist, nods, and continues into the darkness of the forest.

_Meanwhile, on the cliff edge. _

Elsa closes her tablet and smiles, nodding approvingly down at the forest.

"That has to be the strangest fighting style I've seen in a long time." Ozpin says. "While most students have a hybrid weapon or just one, your brother uses two completely different weapons, and the style in which he uses them compliments the advantages and disadvantages of the weapon." Elsa nods.

"Exactly how I taught him." The blonde female says. "I just hope that he'll work well with his teammates."

"I've heard about his problem of working with others. We'll work on it." Ozpin says. Elsa nods.

_Back with Elsword. _

Elsword pulls his sword out of the neck of a dead Beowulf. He surveys his surroundings, checking for more opponents. Seeing none, he continues on his way. He bursts through the bushes into a clearing with a ruined building in the middle. Inside the building is Yang and the black haired girl from last night. He sighs and makes his way down the slope.

"Hey! Elsword!" Yang shouts. The blonde boy nods to her.

''Who's this?" The black haired girl asks.

"Blake, meet Elsword. Elsword, this is Blake." Yang says. Elsword nods to the Blake, and she returns in suit. Elsword enters the ruins.

"Chess pieces?" He asks, "Why are there three of each type?"

"I did hear that there is an odd number of students this year." Blake says. Yang nods.

"That's right, and usually two pairs are teamed up together if they have two of the exact same relics. so there has to be a team of five." Elsword says. He takes one of the two remaining white knight pieces. Yang smiles secretly. Suddenly, a loud girlish scream echoes through the forest.

"Blake, some girl's in trouble!" Yang says. Blake doesn't respond and, instead, continues to stare at the sky. "Blake, what do we do?" Elsword points to the sky.

"Heads uppppppppp!" A voice shouts. Yang looks up to the sky to see her sister falling from it, before Jaune randomly crashes into her. Elsword raises an eyebrow.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asks. Yang stutters, before she is cut off by an Ursa crashing through the foliage.

"Yeehaw!" A girl shouts. The Ursa falls over, dead. Nora stares down at it. "Aww. Its broken." Rin stumbles out behind her.

"Nora. Never do that again." Rin says, but Nora isn't where she previously was. Instead, she's staring at a white rook piece. She picks it up.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" Nora sings.

"NORA!" Rin shouts. Nora giggles.

"Coming Rin!" Nora says.

"Did she just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asks. Yang stutters, before she is cut off by Pyrrha running from the forest, a Deathstalker on her heals.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouts.

"Whoa!" Ruby exclaims, before running out of the tree.

"Ruby!" Jaune cries. Ruby lands on the ground.

"Ruby?" Yang asks.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaims, preparing to hug her sister.

"Nora!" Nora shouts, appearing between the two siblings. Pyrrha evades another attack from the Deathstalker.

"Did she run all this way with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asks. Yang's anger visibly snaps.

"Ugh! I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?" Yang shouts. The area remains quiet for exactly two seconds before Ruby taps Yang on her arm.

"Uh, Yang?" Ruby says, pointing up. Yang sighs, and Elsword groans.

"Can my life get any stranger?" He asks. He looks up. "I spoke too soon." Weiss Schnee is hanging off the claw of a Nevermore. A second one trying to peck her off.

"Why did you leave me?" Weiss shouts.

"I said jump." Ruby replies.

"She's going to fall." Blake says.

"She'll be fine." Ruby says.

"She's falling." Rin nonchalantly replies. Jaune, finally free from the tree, finds his chance to be all heroic. He jumps, catches Weiss, and they both fall. Weiss lands on Jaune's back.

"My hero." Weiss says sarcastically.

"My back." Jaune groans.

The Deathstalker strikes Pyrrha, sending her crashing before Yang.

"Good, we're all here. Now we can die together." Yang says.

"Not if I can help it." Ruby says. She then charges forward, attacking the Deathstalker. Her sniper scythe, does nothing. Ruby, her ten seconds of courage done, backs off fearfully. She begins to run, and the Nevermore slingshots it's feathers, snagging her cape, and blocking Yang. The Deathstalker runs up and raises its tail. A flash of white alerts Elsword to Weiss's presence. She freezes the tail, saving Ruby's life. Elsword then notices the second Nevermore divebomb Weiss and Ruby. Throwing his sword flat against the ground, he stands on it and rides it like a board, his powers creating flight. In a complex flip, he slashes the giant bird away. Landing, he returns the sword to its mount on his back. DMR in hand, he surveys the area, searching for any opponents that may have been attracted to the noise.

"Clear." Elsword says. Walking back to the group, he ignores their curious stares. After a moment, everyone but him realize that he isn't going to explain how he did what he did. The Nevermores circle over head.

"Uh guys?" Jaune asks. "Those things are circling again."

"Look, there's no point in dilly dallying here." Weiss says.

"Yeah, our objective is to get an artifact and return to the top of the cliff." Ruby says. Weiss and her share a nod. Ruby then grabs the remaining white knight piece, and Jaune grabs a white rook piece. The Deathstalker cracks the ice.

"We should leave." Rin says. Ruby nods. The gang begins to run off, Ruby at the head of the pack. Yang stares proudly after her sister.

"What is it?" Blake asks.

"Oh, nothing." Yang says, a bright smile on her face. Blake gives a faint smile before following. Elsword stares after the girls, an eyebrow raised. He then chuckles lightly. He follows. They manage to make it to ruins built over a gorge before the two Nevermores catch up. Everyone manages to find a hiding spot, except Elsword. The Nevermore that he previously kicked away, fires off feathers at him. Elsword doesn't have time to draw his sword. Instead, blades of pure plasma morph from his arms. He manages to deflect the feathers away. He glances back and starts to run forward.

"We need to move, NOW!" Elsword shouts, as the Deathstalker crashes through the trees.

"Crap. Run!" Jaune shouts. Nora distracts the Nevermore that had landed on the top of the ruins. The group manages to get to a bridge. And the Nevermores burst through the supports, one clipping Elsword's side, knocking him unconscious and into the abyss below.

"ELSWORD!" Everyone shouts.

_Top of the cliff._

Elsa, a hand over her mouth, gasps at what she just saw. She's sure that she just saw the death of her brother. Rage then overtakes her eyes, and she prepares to jump down and kill the Nevermore. She is stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She looks back to find Ozpin.

"I cannot believe you have so little faith in your brother." Ozpin says. "From what I was told, he should wake well before he hits bottom." Elsa calms.

"You're right." Elsa says. Ozpin nods.

"Have a little more faith in your brother, he's more than capable." Ozpin says, walking away. Elsa nods, then stares back to her tablet. She watches as Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora kill the Deathstalker, and Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang kill one Nevermore. The second, however, keeps its distance, then divebombs from straight above, becoming an unstoppable force. The four girls manage to escape, but get trapped by the face of the cliff. The Nevermore charges at the trapped girls, and the nearby instructors prepare to intervene.

"Armageddon blade!" A voice shouts. A massive blade of red energy bats the bird away. The blade then disappears, and multiple embers converge on a single point, slowly building up the body of Elsword. Elsa sighs with relief.

"It's going to take much more than knocking me off a cliff to kill me." He says, his sword resting on his shoulder. The Nevermore dives at him, but he disappears into flames. The separate flames fly up the cliff, luring the monster away from Ruby and her team. As the Nevermore reaches the top of the cliff, the flames merge into Elsword. Spinning in the air, he punches the giant bird back down, smashing it into a pillar. Elsword falls, aiming to stab the bird. However, he is smacked away by one of the Nevermore's wings and into the face of the cliff. From the newly formed crater, Elsword falls. Landing before Ruby and her team, his sword embeds itself inches from his head. Yang rushes out to the blonde boy as he sits up.

"That thing can pack a punch." He says, "However, I pack one much stronger." He stands up and grabs his sword. "Yang, fall back. Your munitions are low, as are the rest of your team's." Yang, who managed to get to his side, nods. As she falls back, Elsword faces the bird. "Hey you overgrown bunch of feathers! You want me? Then come and get me!" The Nevermore shrieks in anger. Elsword takes off into a sprint. Bobbing and weaving around fired feathers. He draws his sword and jumps off a pillar. He launches toward the Nevermore "Armageddon Blade!" The massive blade of energy trails behind Elsword. The Nevermore dives at him, and the classic scene of the final charge is displayed. Elsword performs a complex sword twist and cuts the bird, starting from the mouth. As Elsword does this, the Nevermore's claw cuts his gut. Time resumes normal speed, and the two halves of the Nevermore fall into the abyss below. Elsword lands on the ground. Sheathing his sword, he turns to address the wound on his side. Contemplating the large gash, the wound grows red, and flames slowly repair the blemish. He turns around and faces his friends.

"Well, that was… a thing." Yang says. Elsword chuckles.

"Let's get to the top of the cliff." Elsword says. Everyone nods.

...

"Jaune Ark, Lie Rin, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie." Ozpin calls. "You four collected the white rook pieces. From this day forward you'll be known as, Team Juniper." The audience claps. "Lead by, Jaune Ark! Congratulations young man." Pyrrha smiles, and punches Jaune's arm playfully. Jaune falls over. "And finally, Christopher Elsword, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. You five collected the white knight pieces. Together you'll known as, Team Ruby (RWBEY). Lead by, Ruby Rose." Yang hugs her sister. Elsword smiles and claps. "It looks like things are shaping up to be an, interesting year." The students then leave the room. And team RWBEY heads towards the dorm rooms.

"Elsword!" Elsa calls. The blonde turns.

"Yeah Elsa?" Elsword asks. Elsa reaches the group.

"Oh! Professor Elsa! You know Elsword?" Ruby asks. Elsa laughs.

"Know him? I live with him!" Elsa says. "He's my younger brother."

"Wait, what?" Yang asks, looking between the two siblings.

"Yep, we are half siblings." Elsword says. "Which explains why we only share similar hair color." Ruby nods.

"That's like me and Ruby." Yang says. Elsa nods.

"While I'm here, Yang. May I speak with you?" Elsa asks. Yang nods and Elsa leads her away from the group.

"I'll stay behind and wait for her." Elsword says. Ruby nods. Elsa leads Yang out of earshot.

"I wanted to speak with you for a while now." Elsa says.

"Why?" Yang asks.

"Well, you seem to have a positive effect on Elsword." Elsa says. "I've noticed a dramatic increase in speech and facial expressions when he is around you."

"Well, why would he have not been like that before?" Yang asks. "I thought that he was quiet around strangers."

"When Elsword was young, he was kidnapped by an unknown group." Elsa says. Yang gasps. "He was held in an illegal human experimentation facility for five years. They were researching was to have dust naturally generate in your body. As a result, Elsword's natural born semblance was artificially replaced. However, I found the site before he had a proper control over his new semblance of fire." A trace of tears appear in Elsa's eyes. "I found him with multiple scars covering his chest. I got him out of there. He was fine, but his personality was changed. The light was gone from his eyes, and he became antisocial and quiet. A part of him was forever lost in that facility. Over the years, I taught him swordsmanship as a way to control his power. He taught himself marksmanship." Yang stares at the blonde woman. "I see something in his eyes that was lost when he is with you. He's happy again, I haven't seen him happy in eight years." Yang looks back at Elsword, who is inspecting his rifle. "Please, take care of my brother. If he goes back into his hole, follow him and bring him back."

"I will." Yang says, a rare look of seriousness donning her features. Elsa nods.

"Thank you." Elsa says. Yang smiles. She turns and heads back to her blonde teammate.

"Hey. Wait long?" Yang asks. Elsword looks up from his rifle.

"Not really." Elsword says, shouldering the rifle. "Let's go. I have a different room that you four, you know. Issues with one male in a room full of girls. Ruby told me where your room is, since she wants to hold team meetings there." Yang nods. The two walk in silence. Elsword stops in front of a door. "We're here." Yang nods. Elsword begins to walk away.

"Elsword!" Yang says. The boy begins to turn around, he notices Yang's blushing face. "Thanks."

"Whatever for?" Elsword replies.

"For saving us, back in the forest." Yang says. "None of us ever thanked you." Elsword smiles, and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Anytime, anywhere. I'll be there." Elsword says. "I promise."

_'He's happy again.' _Elsa's words echo in Yang's mind.

"Good night Yang." Elsword says, turning to walk away.

"Night." Yang replies, entering the room.


End file.
